Man burnt alive in Rajasthan for 'love jihad', accused held

dpaNew DelhiPolice in India's Rajasthan on Thursday arrested a man suspected of hacking another man to death, setting him on fire and then circulating a video of the apparently religious attack.The suspected attacker also warned on the video, which went viral in Rajsamand district on Wednesday, that those indulging in"love jihad"would meet a similar fate.Radical Hindu groups claim Muslim men seduce Hindu women and convince them to change their religion and marry them - something they describe as"love jihad."Many of these radical groups have links with the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which runs the Rajasthan state and federal governments.The accused, Shambhu Lal Regar, is a Hindu and a local, while the alleged victim, Afrazul Khan, is a daily wage labourer from the eastern state of West Bengal."We found a charred body on a roadside Wednesday and identified it as that of Khan,"Rajsamand district superintendent of police Manoj Kumar said."Prima facie it appears to be the body of the victim in the video; investigations are on."Kumar said it did not appear that Lal belonged to any group and he could be mentally unstable.The internet has been suspended in the region and people have been asked not to circulate the video."We are keeping an eye on the law-and-order situation,"Kumar said.Over the past months, there have been several attacks on Muslims in Rajasthan, including the lynching of cattle trader Pehlu Khan in April by self-styled cow protection vigilantes. Hindus are a majority in India and the religion looks on cows as holy. Beef was a staple for poorer Muslims until killing the animal was banned in most states.Muslims are India's largest minority community and form an estimated 14 per cent of its 1.2 billion population.Outbreaks of religious violence between the two communities are not uncommon.